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STORIES OF ROBIN HOOD 5
Their robbing was certainly wrong according to our
standards, but Robin. Hood did not think it was wrong.
He took from the rich what they had. wrung unjustly
from the poor to give it back to the poor, and he
thought that it was right. Outlaw though he was, he
stood ever for justice and fairness as he saw it. He
was loyal to the king, though he resisted the unjust
exactions made in the king’s name. He was loyal to
the church and prayed most reverently for himself and
his band. It was his pride that he and his men had
never harmed a woman, or burned a haystack, or
robbed a husbandman, or hurt a parish priest. The
Normans did all these things. Compared with their
actions, Robin Hood ’s standards were wonderfully high.
He was trying to be a reformer; and though he
went about his work in a wrong way, still he did much
good. As the quaint old ballad says about him-in
queer spelling which I revise,
“Christ have mercy on his soul
That died on the rood!
For he was a good outlaw
And did poor men much good. ”
He was brave and kind and merry always, and all
the English people--except England's oppressors-
loved him with all their hearts and delighted in his
adventures. The story of what he did was put into
songs and sung at every fireside; and no man was bet-
ter loved than this outlaw with a price upon his head.
Here are a few stories of Robin Hood and his men,
and a great many more may be found which are well
worth your reading.